Village Underground
is a space for creativity
& culture in the heart
of East London

Venue

Our venue is a renovated turn-of-the-century warehouse ready for everything from concerts and club nights to exhibitions, theatre, live art and other performances, as well as being available for private hire.

History

Village Underground started in 2006, with the aim of building affordable studios for creative people who were struggling to get a foothold in London.

Four tube carriages and two shipping containers were converted into co-working spaces. A few months later, the perfect location was found: the top of an old railway viaduct in the middle of Shoreditch, East London. Great Eastern street was closed for the day and they were hoisted into position by crane. Next to the viaduct was an old Victorian warehouse which had been a coalstore for the railway but had fallen into disrepair. We put a roof on it, cleared out the rubbish, sandblasted the walls and laid down a floor to transform it into the venue that we have now. The main renovations took place over a year, just in time for opening in April 2007.Click here for full 10 year video

Rooftop

Above the main venue, four recycled Jubilee line trains and shipping containers make up the creative “platforms” of Village Underground. Up to 30 artists, playwrights, filmmakers, architects, photographers, producers and startups working side-by-side in a creative community.

The proximity and communal spirit foster collaboration and the exchange of ideas, whilst the affordable rent makes it easier for our tenants to focus on what they really want to do. By facilitating partnerships and maintaining low rent, creative practitioners can unlock their potential and develop ideas into great projects.

Previous tenants include – amongst many others: theatre company Punchdrunk, author and poet Joe Dunthorne and his Aisle 16 accomplices Tim Clare, John Osborne, Luke Wright and Ross Sutherland and the too-fabulous-to-be-true Sink The Pink family.

Current Tenants

Sarah Louise Renwick

Djim Masrangar

Photographer, cook and all-round beautiful person, Djim is Village Underground’s longest-running tenant. As a photographer, he likes to use his vintage camera to snap handsome pictures of the artists playing at VU. As a cook, he creates Badmama Classic, the strongest and most delicious chilli sauce known to man.

Good Hustle Films

Good Hustle Films is a post production company run by freelance editor, colourist and animator Will Steer providing services for film broadcast and digital; working with production companies, agencies, post houses or directly with clients.

No Ordinary Experience

No Ordinary Experience is a producing and consultancy house offering services across the arts, digital and participation sectors. Led by Georgina Bednar, No Ordinary Experience brings professional expertise to the less visible aspects of the arts. With work spanning consultancy, mentoring, producing and curation, NOE aims to create and sustain projects that have an impact beyond London’s mainstage theatres.

They like new things. If you would like to discuss a new project, drop them a line.

Nelly Ben Hayoun Studios

Nelly Ben Hayoun Studios designs extreme experiences for you to become an astronaut in your living room while dark energy is being created in your kitchen sink and a volcano erupts on your couch. Interdisciplinary ‘Willy Wonka’ design studios which devise subversive events and experiences. We work with leading scientists, creatives, writers and engineers worldwide. People we have worked with include: NASA, The European Space Agency, Mattel Inc. HQ, Google HQ, The Guardian,The SETI Institute, BBC, WeTransfer, MailChimp, XL Recordings, Ed Banger Records, MOMA, Victoria and Albert Museum, National Museum of China, The Design Council, AirBnB, Autodesk, Apple and more! Nelly Ben Hayoun Studios works on large scale, multi-media, highly ambitious projects. There are no limits to our reach on earth and beyond. Facebook & Instagram

Fairsplit

Fairsplit Music Publishing is a 21st century boutique music publisher founded by Peter Saville & Vikram Gudi in 2014. With extensive experience in music supervision, advertising & sync, Peter & Vikram created Fairsplit to focus on owning outstanding contemporary classical, electronic & industrial music that works seamlessly with audio-visual.

As a synchronisation focused company, Fairsplit has, in less than a year, secured placements with Adidas, Unilever, Cathay Pacific, Lexus, Unicef, Google, IBM amongst a host of other advertisements & Hollywood trailers.

Heiko Prigge

Heiko is a portrait and lifestyle photographer working for various clients such as BMW, lodown, Monocle, MINI and Agent Provocateur. Born in Hamburg, he moved to London in 1997 and worked for many years as an assistant to Terry O’Neill and other photographers. Exhibitions include V&A’s One Moment Please, Serpentine Gallery’s State of Play (a collaborative project with artist Alexandra Mir) and Tate Modern’s Global Cities (a collaborative project with US artist Fritz Haeg).

Georges

George(s) is a french illustrator and art director now based between London & Paris after three years living and working in Shanghai. His work is a full organised mess inspired by thousand of things going from Raymond Savignac to Monty Pythons, from Douanier Rousseau to Matt Groening.

Omar El-Khairy

Omar is a writer for stage and screen. He was part of the young writers’ programmes at both the Royal Court Theatre and Soho Theatre and a former Leverhulme Associate Playwright at the Bush Theatre. His plays include Burst, Sour Lips, The Keepers of Infinite Space and The Chaplain: or, a short tale of how we learned to love good Muslims whilst torturing bad ones. Omar is also a founding member of Paper Tiger, a collective of theatre and filmmakers, working collaboratively and autonomously. His first short film No Exit received its world premiere at last year’s Dubai International Film Festival and screened both nationally and internationally.

CASK

William Williamson

William is a director who works in documentary, short film, music video and commercials. His Music Nation documentary on the British Asian rave scene was called “one of the best TV shows about music in years” by The Guardian. He has worked with musicians including a particularly close relationship with folk singer Keaton Henson.

Nadia Latif

Nadia has been a freelance director for over eight years. She has directed for key venues such as Soho Theatre, Arcola, Theatre 503, Almeida Theatre projects, Edinburgh Festival and others. Nadia has also been Assistant Director to Rupert Goold, Indhu Rubasingham, Mike Attenborough and Mike Bradwell.

Plush Festival

Plush Festival is an independent, family run music series held in the idyllic village of Plush, Dorset. Over the summer the festival serves to bring audiences close to leading artists in a uniquely intimate and beautiful setting. The musical focus is classical and contemporary, with forays into jazz, world and folk.

Di Mainstone

Artist and researcher, Di Mainstone creates body-centric sculptures, designed to initiate movement and storytelling. Many of these wearable artefacts are inspired by technology. Some of them release sound when handled. Often, they can be modified to create new silhouettes, environments and functionalities. All of them tell a story.

Run Riot

Run Riot Magazine is an arts and culture online publication and weekly newsletter. They have a cross-arts focus from visual art to contemporary dance, film to music, and from club to their ‘Think’ and ‘Wild Card’ sections. Run Riot work with a range of arts organisations and independent producers in creating content. They recently launched their not-for-profit company Run Riot Projects where they’ll be producing courses, workshops and events. Their first ongoing project is Art of Mindfulness.

Lisboa

As with our London site, VU Lisboa began life as a collection of affordable workspaces for artists, creative industry professionals and start-ups.

VU Lisboa was built from recycled shipping containers with a range of eco-design features, such as locally sourced cork insulation and exterior paints that reduce solar heat gain.The carefully designed architectural layout is based around “people flow” that encourages interaction through its central courtyard and the need to pass your neighbour’s door and terrace to reach your own.

The site is based within Lisbon’s transport museum and a repurposed bus is now a cafe. When the weather permits, the courtyard is used for parties and other gatherings. VU Lisboa also has taken over a nearby warehouse and will stage events in there from 2017.

Village Underground is a proud member of Trans Europe Halles (TEH),
a European-based network of cultural centres initiated by citizens and
artists. TEH advocates and promotes culture, shares knowledge and
encourages new centres and initiatives.

With 56 members based right across Europe, the network functions as
a dynamic forum for ideas, experiences and exchange, supporting its
members and their communities. TEH contributes to building a
sustainable future for the independent cultural sector.

For more information on the good work that Trans
Europe Halles does, visit teh.net

Village Underground is also a member of Liveurope, an initiative
supporting concert venues in their efforts to promote up-and-coming
European artists. The platform works as a quality hallmark awarded to
live music venues committed to European diversity.

The objective of Liveurope is to boost the programming of young European acts across the continent and help them reach new audiences.
Established in 2014, the Liveurope platform is the first initiative of its kind in Europe. Members include: Ancienne Belgique, A38, Blå, FZW, Melkweg, Palác Akropolis, Sala Apolo, Stodola, L’Aéronef, Musicbox, Kino Šiška,Rockhal and Vega.For more information, visit liveurope.eu

Many cultural organisations and artists around Europe struggle to find new ways to survive and develop in times of change and declining financing structures for culture.

This is the reason why Creative Lenses, a unique cooperation project funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Commission was created.
For more information about the how the project is developing check out our creativelenses.eu

Working Ethics

Culture is for everyone and we’re proud to have a silver accreditation from Attitude is Everything, who lead the way in improving deaf and disabled people’s access to live music. Similarly we were early advocates of Hollaback’s campaign to tackle harassment in bars and clubs. We’re a London Living Wage employer and run creative apprenticeship schemes in partnership with Big Creative Education.

In addition to being a cultural centre, Village Underground is an ecological project. From repurposed trains and shipping containers, to reclaimed sleepers, staircases, furniture and flooring… Ecotricity provides us with 100% green energy and we’re also an active member of our local zero emissions network.

FAQ's

Age & ID

- Is there an age restriction at Village Underground?

For Live music events, under 18s must be accompanied by an adult (unless otherwise agreed with promoter for special underage events) and right of admission will be reserved. No children under 16 are allowed in the venue. Any Club night is strictly over 18 and right of admission will be reserved. In order to verify that a customer is over 16, ID might be requested. For this reason, we advise that all customers bring valid ID. Please always refer to our listings for specific restrictions. Occasionally there is conflicting information on other artist, promoter or ticketing websites, the information on the listing is our venue’s policy.

- What are the valid forms of ID?

Acceptable forms of ID are a valid passport, photo driving licence or National Identity Card.
Driving licences without a photo or student cards are not accepted.

- Who is a responsible adult?

In English Law, an appropriate adult is a parent, guardian or social worker; or if no person matching this is available, any responsible person over 18.

Ticketing

- Can I buy tickets over the phone or on the door?

Although we sometimes sell tickets on the door (specified in the listings), we don’t have a full time Box Office, we are unable sell tickets over the phone and all of our tickets are sold online. Online ticket sales usually close at 5pm on the day of the event. If the listings page doesn't say the show is sold out then tickets will be on sale on the door. Collecting your tickets at the box office can only be done on the night and only once the doors have opened.

- Can I buy a ticket at the venue on the day of the event?

It is possible to buy a ticket on the day of the event after the doors open and if the show hasn't sold out.

- How likely am I to get tickets when a gig has sold out?

We are a small independent venue and our most popular events can sell out fast.
We appreciate that this may be disappointing and we recommend trying ethical reseller websites such as Twickets If the page says "Contact venue for tickets" it is a standard message that appears when the ticket agency runs out of tickets to sell and it usually means the show has sold out.

- How does ticketing work at Village Underground?

Shows at Village Underground are usually booked by external promoters (e.g. Eat Your Own Ears, Metropolis, SJM, Live Nation, Bird on the Wire etc). Most of the time, VU will sell an allocation of tickets for a show booked by an external promoter. VU's ticket allocation is sold through Seetickets and Resident Advisor. The rest of the tickets are sold by the promoter, through various ticket agencies e.g. Ticketweb, Gigantic, WeGotTickets, Ticketmaster.

Should you have any question about your order, or you haven’t received a confirmation email or your physical tickets please contact the ticket agency you bought the tickets from before contacting Village Underground.

- What do I do if I haven't received my tickets or have left them at home?

If you have lost/not received/left your tickets at home, please contact the ticket agency you bought them from as soon as you can. If you contact the ticket agency on time, they will be able to add your name to a duplicates list. This is an indispensable step for you to gain entry to an event if you are not in possession of your tickets.

- Can I give my friend my tickets if I can’t make it?

If you would like to pass on your tickets to someone else to collect from the Box Office you will need to provide a letter of authorisation to the Box Office from yourself, and the ticket collector will need to provide a valid form of ID (passport/drivers licence).

- If I can't make it to the event, can I return the tickets or get a refund?

We regret that we cannot exchange, refund, transfer or return tickets unless the event in question is cancelled or details of the event are significantly changed (for example venue, date etc).

- The event got cancelled, can I get a refund?

As soon as an event is officially cancelled the ticket agency will contact you via the contact details you gave them when you booked your tickets, and explain what happens next. Usually, if a show is being rescheduled, you will be given a choice between attending the rescheduled event or getting your money back. If you have the tickets in hand, you may be asked to return them to us before we can issue a refund.

- Can you give me the contact of the promoter or someone at the label?

Unfortunately, we cannot give out that information.

- Does Village Underground issue press passes?

We do not issue press passes or photo passes. All press enquires should be directed to the promoter or band’s publicist, label or management.

- What are the usual set times?

Set times are not typically available until day of show. Door and finish times will always be advertised on the event's page.
Please note that our team always does its best to keep all shows running on time, but every so often a show runs late.

Transport and local area

- Where is Village Underground?

Village Underground's address is 54 Holywell Lane, just between Great Eastern Street and Shoreditch High Street and next to A Child of The Jago clothes shop.

- Where can I park?

There is one daytime car park near Village Underground. It is located just next to 55 Holywell Lane.
More information about full time car parks can be found here.

- Where should I go for dinner before the gig?

Try Korean at On the Bab, Som Sa for Thai, Gunpowder (if you can get a table) or Dishoom (if they aren’t packed out) for Indian. There's an array of Vietnamese cafes along Kingsland Road but Viet Grill is our favourite with its sister restaurant Keu! in Shoreditch for Banh Mi. Feeling Steak-y? There's the Hawksmoor on Commercial St and over the road, for ''Snout to Tail'' eating, there's Fergus Hendersons' St John’s Bread & Wine. At Taberna do Mercado chef Nuno Medes serves up as good as your best meal in Portugal. For cheap and quick, walk into Damascu Bite on Brick Lane for good schwarma. For burgers we swear by Patty & Bun but some prefer Bukowski or Dirty Burger. Homeslice reigns for quality pizza - go for the goat and savoy cabbage! You've got many choices for Barbecue but with the recent arrival of Smokestak is where we'll be.

Accessibility

- What do I do if I have accessibility requirements?

Harassment & discrimination

- What do I do if I am harassed or discriminated against?

VU is a club for people to enjoy music without fear of harassment or discrimination. We welcome diversity in our audience and work to create a safe space for everyone present; in return we ask that you respect these values and each other. If someone is making you feel uncomfortable in any way, please let one of the members of staff know and we will try and resolve the issue as soon as possible. We also encourage our crowd to look out for one another and to report unacceptable behaviour if it occurs.

Door policy & dress code

- Do you have a door policy?

Village Underground has a comprehensive Equality and Diversity Policy in order to make sure that we comply with our obligations under the Equality Act 2010, and which sets out our commitment to encouraging diversity and to responding to complaints and grievances appropriately. The full Equality and Diversity Policy can be found here.

- Do you have a dress code?

We reserve the right to refuse admission on grounds of dress, limited to business attire and fancy dress (unless it is a themed event).

- Will I get searched on the door?

Yes, there will be a bag and personal items check on the door and any illegal substances, liquids ​(including suncream and water) ​or dangerous items ​(including aerosols) ​will be confiscated.​

Non-dangerous and legal substances can be written on and returned at the end of the night. Please note unless it’s medication we will dispose of​ any unclaimed material the following day.

- What is your stance on drugs?

We have a zero tolerance policy on drugs. If drugs are found in your possession when entering the club they will be confiscated and passed onto the police. If you are found inside the venue taking drugs, they will be confiscated and you will be asked to leave the premises. If you are found selling or giving out drugs then the police will be called immediately.

We advise that you don't leave your drinks unattended and that if you see anyone who looks like they are in need of medical help, that you contact a member of the VU team immediately who are trained to provide assistance without judgement.

Cloakroom & lost property

- Does Village Underground have a cloakroom?

Yes, coats and bags can be checked into the cloakroom, the price is £2 per item.

- I left my jacket/phone/camera in your venue, what should I do?

Email lostproperty@villageunderground.co.uk and provide a detailed description of the lost item (including any unique characteristic). You should hear from us within the following two days. Please note that found items are retained for fourteen days only, after which time they are given to charity. Please note that lost items cannot be collected at the weekend.

- Can I bring my camera?

Photo policy varies for different artists and is usually not determined until day of show. You can bring a nonprofessional camera to most shows, and you can enquire about the photo policy at the door.

- Can I bring my own liquids?

Please do not bring any liquids, including vape liquids, into the venue as these will be confiscated.

Non-dangerous and legal substances can be written on and returned at the end of the night. Please note unless it’s medication we will dispose of​ any unclaimed material the following day.

Payment facilities & re-entry

- What are my payment options in the venue?

We accept American Express, MasterCard and Visa. We do not have ATMs on-site. If tickets do not sell out in advance, they will be sold at the door on the night of the show (cash only).

- Is there re-entry?

No, sorry. All exits are final (excluding the smoking area) so make sure you bring enough cash for the whole night.